Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $55.00 target price on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on KNX. Barclays cut their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $57.00 to $49.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in a research note on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $63.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $55.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.25.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

KNX stock opened at $47.39 on Tuesday. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 1 year low of $36.69 and a 1 year high of $61.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.42, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $43.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.42.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 2.04% and a return on equity of 2.79%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.12 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.60%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KNX. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 3.6% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 21,288 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $926,000 after buying an additional 738 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 98.8% in the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 15,049 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 7,479 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in the 1st quarter worth $20,123,000. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation during the first quarter worth $451,000. Finally, Dean Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 2.4% during the first quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 29,499 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,283,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. 88.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Knight-Swift Transportation

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides freight transportation services in the United States and Mexico. The company operates through four segments: Truckload, Less-than-truckload (LTL), Logistics, and Intermodal. The Truckload segment provides transportation services, which include irregular route and dedicated, refrigerated, expedited, flatbed, and cross-border operations.